Queen Sofia to attend Microcredit Summit in Nairobi

Microfinance Focus, Feb 26, 2010: Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Máxima of The Netherlands, Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, BRAC Chair Sir Fazle Abed, and other microfinance leaders from the region will address the Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit to be held April 7-10, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya.

A program featuring visionary leaders discussing cutting-edge topics includes World Bank Vice President for Finance, Janamitra Devan, chairing a plenary session titled: “Breakthroughs in Using Micro-savings and Microcredit to Better End Poverty: A Vision for the Future of Microfinance in Africa and the Middle East.”  Confirmed speakers include Sir Fazle Abed, Chair of BRAC, and Ingrid Munro, Founder of Jamii Bora, sharing their groundbreaking work in Africa and around the world.

A workshop titled: “What is the Cutting Edge in Managing and Measuring Social Performance?” will include: Christian Loupeda, Director of Credit with Education for Africa and Asia at Freedom from Hunger; Mr. Abebual Zerihun, Director of Research and Evaluation at BRAC Uganda; Mrs. Nadia Laraj, Social Performance Consultant for Sanabel; Ms. Refilwe Mokoena, Research and Development Coordinator for the Small Enterprise Foundation in South Africa; and Ging Ledesma, Director of Social Performance at Oikocredit in The Netherlands.

The summit is being sponsored by Craft Silicon and Citi Foundation and a group of more than 20 sponsors, said a press release.

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